There are many luthiers in the Santa Cruz area creating beautiful instruments, and handmade guitars are being exhibited during the month of February through March 15, 2014, as part of the very first Santa Cruz County Art of Guitar Exhibit and Festival. An assortment of instruments are on display at the R. Blitzer Gallery on the West Side of Santa Cruz, CA and you can hear these guitars being played at various venues in a series of concerts (check the main festival website for details). Performers include Jayme Kelly Curtis, founder of the festival, Kenny Hill, William Coulter, Muriel Anderson, Marty O’Reilly, and many more. The Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History‘s free First Friday of February event (2/7/14) will feature a Hill Guitar Company shop setup displaying how classical guitars are made, crafts activities for kids, a harmonics/physics demonstration and lecture by David Winters, guitar strap weaving, and many live performances by artists throughout the evening. A locally produced book by Jim MacKenzie and Renee Flower featuring photos and essays about local instrument builders has also been released in association with the exhibit.
